2019 Purdue Season Thread

[ELA]

Purdue was the better team, unfortunately they were also the dumber team.

[Mdot21]

Purdue was the better team, unfortunately they were also the dumber team.

Dumb teams are a reflection of the coaching staff. Dumb teams usually have dumb coaching. Maybe Brohm just isn't as good as we all thought he was?

[ELA]

Dumb teams are a reflection of the coaching staff. Dumb teams usually have dumb coaching. Maybe Brohm just isn't as good as we all thought he was?

Eh, I still think he's a good coach, but you do have to wonder about the discipline.  Remember they lost two games last year on late personal foul penalties.

[Anonymous Coward]

This one reminds me a lot of last year's Purdue-NU game to open the season. (ELA might be alluding to the same.) I felt decent at the time that Purdue was (not by a lot but by enough) better. Who was that DT with the bad decision that cost Purdue the game? Back then, I was expecting Brohm would put the kabosh on it fast. Maybe he still will, but it has been a slower treatment than I thought.

[ELA]

This one reminds me a lot of last year's Purdue-NU game to open the season. (ELA might be alluding to the same.) I felt decent at the time that Purdue was (not by a lot but by enough) better. Who was that DT with the bad decision that cost Purdue the game? Back then, I was expecting Brohm would put the kabosh on it fast. Maybe he still will, but it has been a slower treatment than I thought.

Yup, they had dumb personal foul penalties that cost them Northwestern and EMU

[Cincydawg]

Some PFs are accidental, he didn't mean to at all, just misjudged, or the hand grabbed the FM etc.

Late hits and OB are usually not of this ilk, but some are.

[betarhoalphadelta]

Elijah Sindelar with a broken collarbone suffered against Minnesota. Likely gone for season.

Backup RG DJ Washington, who saw action when starter Matt McCann was injured, gone for season with a broken tibia. 

Rondale Moore merely has a hamstring injury, so at least it's not a knee. But hamstrings can be pretty nasty lingering injuries for a WR, so the timetable is unknown. He's definitely expected to be out vs PSU, but how long it lingers beyond that is unknown.

And of course Lorenzo Neal is still out, already ruled out vs PSU. 

[MrNubbz]

Sheesh,Brohm has to keep the troops from getting despondent same as MD in EL

[betarhoalphadelta]

Starters or players who get significant snaps that are injured for Purdue right now:

• Elijah Sindelar - QB
• Rondale Moore - WR
• Jordan Rucker - CB
• TJ Sheffield - WR
• Anthony Watts - DT
• Lorenzo Neal - DT
• Mershawn Rice - WR
• Jared Sparks - WR
• Milton Wright - WR
• Markus Bailey - LB
• Tario Fuller - RB
• Marvin Grant - S
• Richie Worship - RB
• DJ Washington - OL

Team needs to get healthy.

[WhiskeyM]

Only 5 scholarship WRs healthy right now.  Purdue's base offense has 3 WRs, so 1 position doesn't even have a back up right now.

That would be Anthrop's slot position.  I imagine if something happens to him they move Anderson into the slot, and bring Taylor to the edge.

[847badgerfan]

Purdue looks to be kinda screwed right now. I was thinking they'd take a step up this year but it's not looking good.

Time to develop depth. That's about the best Brohm and Co. can do with this group.

[WhiskeyM]

Yep.

Next year should be a step up, maybe just a small one.  A 7-5 type season.  Brohm will have to hit the transfer market for some OL methinks.

2021 will be Purdue's year. 

[medinabuckeye1]

At least in theory next year's schedule sets up a lot better for Purdue anyway.  

Looking at the current power rankings, Purdue plays their best three opponents (#2 UW, #3 PSU, #6 IA) on the road.  As road games, those would be likely losses unless Purdue was one of the absolute best teams in the league.  

Next year they get both Wisconsin and Iowa at home which should help immensely in the B1G-W race if Purdue is able to be a challenger.  Their B1G road games next year are in Lincoln, Ann Arbor, Champaign, Minneapolis, and Bloomington.  

If Purdue is the type of team that struggles for bowl eligibility then next year's schedule will suck but if they are the type of team that challenges for the B1G-W then next year's schedule should be great!

[betarhoalphadelta]

So, six weeks in, here's what we know:

• Purdue is 2-4, but legitimately should probably be 3-3. The loss to Nevada is not a loss that I think would have happened if they'd played week 2 or later. That's one we'd like back. 
• Purdue's offense is loaded with weapons, and even without Sindelar, we're starting to see Plummer get comfortable... Against any team without a dominant pass rush. We can put up points as long as the QB can stay upright long enough to throw. Against teams like PSU, not a chance. Against teams like Minnesota or Maryland, we can at least turn games into shootouts.
• Even the loss of Sindelar for the season and Moore for a while didn't look as bad. These young receivers are REALLY starting to come into their own. David Bell is living up to his hype, with big-play ability and the sort of 50/50 ball acumen that is great for a young QB with a struggling OL. Brycen Hopkins remains a stud. Amad Anderson and Milton Wright have been great. And Jackson Anthrop, while no Moore, is a reliably slot option. We finally ended the Zander Horvath @ RB experiment. King Doerue is looking good, and we finally got Tario Fuller back on the field returning from his broken jaw. The offense is really rounding into form--if they can protect Plummer.
• Purdue's defense sucks donkey balls, no matter who we play. We haven't held a single team to less than 5 yards per play or less than 400 yards overall. Only Nevada and TCU were held under 6 yards per play, and frankly for TCU that was because their own QB couldn't hit wide-open receivers and/or the wide-open receivers couldn't catch well-thrown balls. 
• Nationally, Purdue's defense is 104th in yards/game, 101st in yards/play, and merely 87th in points/game. We've climbed up to 89th in TO forced and 116th in TO margin though!
• Hence the shootouts. Even Maryland, although the final score was 40-14, could have been a LOT closer. Purdue got bailed out on the early TD pass because of a holding call, and then Maryland found themselves going for it on 4th down (4 attempts, 1 conversion) to try to extend drives and Purdue somehow managed to stop those drives. We still gave up 6.2 ypp and 403 total yards to the Terps. If Purdue hadn't secured the early lead and forced Maryland into catch-up mode, I think the game would have been closer. 
• Purdue has played the conference teams who are 2nd (PSU), 6th (MD), and T-9th (MN) for sacks per game in the B1G. They have an upcoming schedule of 13th (Iowa), T-9th (Illini), T-7th (UNL), 12th (NU), 3rd (UW), and T-7th (IU). This gives them a puncher's chance in basically every game except Wisconsin, since the toughest remaining team after the Badgers is the Hawkeyes, and they have a questionable offense (11th in pts/game) and not a great pass rush. 

It's still a LONG uphill road to 6-6. But I think the blueprint for getting there is starting to take better shape than we might have thought a few weeks ago. It will take some luck, but it's not out of the question.